Sridhara Parida, a resident of a village near Pipili in eastern India saw a deadly cobra entering his house on May 5.

He searched for it but could not find it anywhere. He called a Snake Helpline volunteer, Susant Behera, who also failed to find the snake. But when he approached a typewriter in a room he heard a sharp hiss sound from inside.

Realising that the cobra was hiding inside the machine, Susant carefully took it outside.

Rescuing the cobra was an ordeal as it was not easy to dismantle the machine. The cobra, which had found a secure refuge, was not keen to come out.

He poked the three-feet-long cobra with a stick and managed to dislodge it. He then pulled it out by the tail, put it in a bag and released it in a natural habitat.

Founder of Snake Helpline, Subhendu Mallik, said: "The monocled cobra had probably entered the house while following prey. It was odd to find it inside a typewriter and luckily it was spotted on time.”

Monocled cobras contain deadly neurotoxic venom, which can kill in less than 30 minutes if a bite is left untreated.

Sridhara Parida, a resident of a village near Pipili in eastern India saw a deadly cobra entering his house on May 5.

He searched for it but could not find it anywhere. He called a Snake Helpline volunteer, Susant Behera, who also failed to find the snake. But when he approached a typewriter in a room he heard a sharp hiss sound from inside.

Realising that the cobra was hiding inside the machine, Susant carefully took it outside.

Rescuing the cobra was an ordeal as it was not easy to dismantle the machine. The cobra, which had found a secure refuge, was not keen to come out.

He poked the three-feet-long cobra with a stick and managed to dislodge it. He then pulled it out by the tail, put it in a bag and released it in a natural habitat.

Founder of Snake Helpline, Subhendu Mallik, said: "The monocled cobra had probably entered the house while following prey. It was odd to find it inside a typewriter and luckily it was spotted on time.”

Monocled cobras contain deadly neurotoxic venom, which can kill in less than 30 minutes, if a bite is left untreated.